File wrappers and envelopes



6, 1955 J. M. GUTHRIE FILE WRAPPERS AND ENVELOPES Filed July 30, 1952JNVENTOR. JAMES M. GUTHRIE.

/Lt' ATTORNEYS.

6United States Patent Oiiice 2,726,031 Patented Dec. 6, 19,55

FILE WRAPPERS AND ENVELOPES James M. Guthrie, Crafton, Pa. ApplicationJuly 30, 1952, Serial No. 301,715 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-79) My inventionrelates to large file wrappers and accordion envelopes of the sort usedby lawyers and business men to contain and le various legal and businesspapers, and the invention consists in certain new and useful structuralimprovements in such containers. The application for this patentcomprised a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 255,045,led November 6, 1951.

An envelope of the sort to which my invention especially relates isformed of heavy paper, or light cardboard, or other suitable sheetmaterial. Such an envelope has a front wall and a back wall united alongtheir side and bottom edges kby plaited side and bottom walls, and a aphinged to said front wall on a fold-line. The Hap is movable on thefold-line overthe top edge of said back wall to close the envelope. Inorder to secure the envelope in closed position a cord or ribbon isattached to said flap, and, when the flap is closed, the cord is passedaround the body of the envelope and the two ends of the cord are tied.In this way the envelope cannot become unintentionally opened and itscontents lost, and, since the otherwise free edge of the flap is securedupon the face of said back wall, the envelope may be readily slippedinto place or removed from position between other envelopes in a lingdrawer or cabinet, without the ilaps of adjacent envelopes becomingcaught or snagged with one another, although it may be noted that thetied cords sometimes become snagged with the flaps of adjacent envelopesin the drawer, and usually prevent as compact an assembly of envelopesas might otherwise may be.

In the use of such envelopes the tying and untying of the cords is anuisance, and often the cords become detached from the envelope aps andbecome lost, or, if not lost, the detached cords increase the nuisanceencountered in the use of the envelopes.

More particularly, my invention eliminates the use of cords, Whileproviding a simpler and more eiective security of the ap of an envelopein closed position. The flap may be readily secured and released atwill, to close and open the envelope, all without objectionable increasein the cost of the envelope. The invention will be understood uponreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of an envelope embodying the inventionin exemplary way;

Fig. 2 is a view comparable with Fig. 1, .showing the envelope with agreatervolume of contents than it has in Fig. 1; and j Fig. 3 is asectional view of the envelope as seen on the plane III-III of Fig. 2with the end of one of the attaching elements removed from Hap-securingengagement with its cooperating element.

Referring to the drawings, an envelope of the sort in which theinvention may be incorporated comprises a body formed of card-board, orbre-board, or of other suitable material in sheet form. y The envelope.comprises a front wall 2 and ta back wall 3, which are not immovablyunited along their side edges. The companion sideV edges of said wallsare designed to yield relatively to one another in order to adapt theenvelope' for contents of widely varying bulks. As shown herein, thewalls 2 and 3 are united along their side and bottom edges by bellows oraccordion-like side and bottom walls 4 and 5,'respectively. A ap 6 ishinged on a line-of-fold 60 to the front Wall 2, and is ymovable on suchline over the top edge 30 of the back wall 3, into overlapped' positionupon said back wall. In order to ropen the envelope the iap is swungaway from the back wall,

end downwardly over the inner face of the flap.

. remains exposed in an area 8a.

of the flap the two reaches of the strap are adhered totheupwardly andclear of the top edge of the said back wall, whereby access to theinterior of the envelope is had for the introduction and removal ofpapers, etc.` When the envelope is closed, it is desirable for thereasons already mentioned that the flap shall be secured in positionupon the face of the back wall, while providing for the ready detachmentof the 'ap to permit the envelope to be opened. The invention is foundin improved means to this end, and in the particularly effectiveorganization and combination of such means with the envelope struc-;ture.

In accordance with the invention the Hap-attaching device of my envelopecomprises an element 7 on the front wall 2 of the envelope and acooperating element 8 on the flap 6. The attaching element on the ap 6is provided at its distal end with a permanently tacky adhesive, whilethe cooperating element on the front wall may comprise a ilm that formsa glazed surface upon which the adhesive may be readilyattached anddetached. The tacky adhesive may be one of several adhesives with whichthe art is familiar, such, forexample, as the permanently tacky adhesiveused on Scotch Tape-a material widely known in the market and in generaluse at the present time. As an example of the known adhesives referenceis made to the adhesives disclosed in Patent vNo. 2,156,380, granted toRichard G. Drew on May 2, 1939; Patent No. 2,410,079, granted to WaldoKellgren on October 29, 1946; and Patent No. 2,177,627, granted toRichard G. Drew on October 31, 1939. The smooth, glossy film on theenvelope front wall may comprise asheet of thin cellophane,v orCelluloid, or other suitable material which ischemi-l cally inert andrelatively impervious to the saidl adhesive, to provide a surface towhich the adhesive on the cooperating attaching element maybe readilyand rmly attached, to secure the envelope flap in closed position, and`from which the adhesive may be cleanly detached, to release the ap foropening the envelope. More'particularly, the cooperating attachingelementl v comprises a strap 8 of heavy cloth, or plastic tape, or

other suitable material, which has exposed on the under. or innersurface of its distal end portion a coating of an adhesive of the sortdescribed. The strapS may beV secured at its upper end to the ap 6 bymeans of a suitable cement, or by rivets, wire staples or the like.Again, the strap may be removably secured (permitting renewal of thestrap if need be) by passing the upper end of the strap through a slot10l in the flap, and extending the' IThe strap passed through the slot10 is doubled back upon itself, with the adhesive-bearing surfaces ofthe two reaches of the strap united face to face from the lower edge ofthe ap 6 to the point 8b where the doubled reach ends. Beyond the point8b the adhesive face of the strap Above the lower edge adjacent innerand outer surfaces of the ilap;

AIn'se'curing the ap 6 in closed position, the strap 8 is passeddownwardV over the back wall, under the bottom, and upward over thefront wall of the envelope, where,l the distal end of the strap issecured by applying and pressing the exposed adhesive-coated strapportion 8a against the surface of the attaching element 7. lt may benoted that the length of the :strap portion 8a is substantially greaterthan the breadth of the strap, and that the breadth of `the attachingelement 7 is substantially greater than that of the said strap.

The attaching element 7 may comprise a iilm or sheet of cellophane, orCelluloid, or other suitable material which is chemically inert andsubstantially `impervious to the adhesive on strap 8. Such lm or sheetmay be securedto Ithe envelope wall by cement, preferably a colorlesscellulosic cement, of the sort known to the plastic industry at thepresent time.

Alternatively, a solvent of the material, of which the element 7 ismade, may be sprayed or brushed on one surface of the element, and suchsurface thereby reduced to a tacky condition for application to `theenvelope wall 2. When the element is applied and pressed against wall 2,the solvent is Asoon dissipated and a permanent bond -of the element 'tothe Wallis established.

ln modication, the cellophane, or other glaze-producing material, may beprepared `as a solution, and vapplied in liquid form to the envelopewall 2. 'The pervious body of the envelope wall -over the `area ofapplication may be partially or wholly impregnated with the liquid. Whenthe solvent evaporates the solute remains as a permanent element of theenvelope wall, and provides thereon a glazed surface hlm of thecharacteristics desired.

In further modification, a thermo-plastic material, 4such as a coumaroneresin, may be applied in molten condition to the envelope wall and`pressed undera platen or die into the substance of the wall. Uponcooling and solidiiication the plastic material provides a smooth,glossy lilm on the wall. Again, the thermo-plastic material -may 4beapplied in sheet form, and a heated 4die employed to eiect the endsdescribed.

The distal end of the strap f8 may be readily adhered to the glazedsurface of `the attaching element 7. In secured position the straptightly embraces the 'body of the envelope and affords structuralreinforcement for the envelope in service. While the device 7, 8 -rmlysecures the ap 6 in closed position, it -is important lto note that thestrap LS may be readily and quickly detached from the element 7, wherebythe flap 6 is-released, permitting the envelope to be opened. The strapmay be thus detached simply by grasping the end Lof the-strapand-pulling it downwardly and outwardly. This progressively breaksthe adhesion of the strap upon the surface of element 7. In order Atofacilitate such manipulation ofthe strapa tip 9 may be formed on the'endof thestrap,\asshown.

Accordion-like -envelopes of the-type shown Ain Vthe drawing are adapted-to .containvary'ing vamounts of papers. When a few papers are in theenvelope the body yof the envelope is thin, and the ldap 6 extendsAupwardly -upon the back wall 3 `of theenvelope a relatively -greatdistance, as shown in Fig. l. YOn "the 'other hand, when the -contentsare `of greater hulk lthe bodyfof the envelope Yis expanded, as shown inFigs. 2 and 3, the ilap A6 vextends upwardly a shorter distance upon thewall 2. In `order to adapt the iflap-securing device 7, 3 of -myinvention to the varying bulk or thickness `of the Venvelope in service,it will be noted that the reach of the Lfilm-element V7 ris verticallyextended between the top and bottom edges of the front walll2gthat is,the extentof the attaching element 7 in a ydirection normal to thefold-line about which the ap rswings is substantially greater than theextent ofthe area 'Ba of 'the :exposed adhesive, with the effect thatAthe strap 8 may be securely attached tothe element 7 irrespective ofthe :bulk and `thickness yof the -envelope and the degree .of .overlapof the ap 6 on the back wall 3-of the envelope.

The particular .doubled construction of the strap 8pmvides :for firmadherence'of the strap to bo'th thevjinner andtouter surfaces of -tlrehap 6 belowslot 10. 'The doublvdiiclmess of 'thestrapl-fromthe free edgeof theiiap '6 to the point 8b affords great strength in the strap, andwhen the envelope .is V`open the strap may be bent back upon itself andthe exposed tacky area 8a temporarily applied to the opposed face of thestrap, whereby any papers withdrawn from the envelope will not makecontact with and stick to the said area 8a.

The at body of the strap extends in flap-securing position flat againstthe back wall 3, under the bottom of the Y envelope and up the frontwall 2. Such at engagement of the strap with the envelope walls not onlyreinforces the envelope in closed position, but also tends to preventthe secured iiap from going askew, as it does with other types of apfasteners, particularly when the contents of the envelope are bulky, andwhen the envelope is being inserted into a filing cabinet snugly betweenother envelopes. There are many other advantages of the structure ofthis invention, which will occur to those skilled in the art.

For example, it 'has been discovered that when an envelope is iilled tobulging proportions, it is ditcult to secure the flap in tightly closedposition. The flap 6 tends, under the stress of the bulging contentsupon the walls of the envelope, to swing outwardly on the fold-line onwhich the said ap .is hinged to the envelope body, wherefore, if aflap-securing device is 4provided for adhering the distal edge of theflap to the back wall of the envelope, i-t is di-fcult .to retain the`elements of the securing device in adhered ap-securing engagement; thatis a substantial component of the force tending to `swing the flapoutwardly from closed-position reacts normally to the plane of theadhering surfaces of `the elements of the flap-securing device, `withthe consequence and elect that the adhered elements are gradually andslowly pulled apart and the security of the `ap in .closed positiondestroyed. This objection or difficulty is substantially eliminated inthe structure of my invention, as follows: When the envelope is closed,no @matter how full or bulged may be the envelope body, lthe strap f8`is pulled downwardly, drawing the flap into closed position against theback wall 3 of .the envelope. Then, as already described, the taut strapis passed .under tthe bottom edge or wall 5 and upward upon the frontwall "2 and the adhesive area 8a of the strap is adhered to Ithecooperating attaching element or area 7 on the front wall 2. The :majorcomponent of the stress which tends to 'swing the closed flap 6 intoopen position is converted into Vtension effective along the length ofthe strap, :and lthis tension reacts in a .direction substantiallyparallel to or coincident with the plane of the adhered surfaces of theportions 7 and 8a. There is substantially .no `effective force reactingnormally to the plane of such adhered surfaces, wherefore my attachingdevice remains .engaged in .apsecuring position until it isintentionally disengaged.

The invention has 3been described as it has been embodied in anAaccordion-or bellows-type envelope, but it is to be understood-thattheinvention may be applied to other sorts of le wrappers `having `flapswhich may advantageously be secured in temporarily closed position.

Many modifications of the structures described will bc apparent fto `theartisan, without departing from the spirit of the inventiondened in the`appended claims.

I claim:

l. ln a `file :wrapper having an envelope-like body formed of sheetmaterial Iand adapted to enclose contents of various bulks, said bodycomprising a back wall, a front wall, bellows side walls, and a flap,said flap being hinged on a fold-line to said front wall and beingmovable on the fold-line :into overlapped position upon said back wallto `close the wrapper, and means for securing said llap in closedposition; the 'invention herein described comprising a strap secured to-said flap and adapted to be drawn taut and extended downwardly from theflap over said back wall, under ,the bottom and upwardly over the frontwall of the wrapper body, the distal end portion only of said strapcarrying on 'its inner surface an eX- posed area of permanently tackyadhesive material, and the outer surface of said front Wall having aiilm portion of a material which is chemically inert to said permanentlytacky adhesive material of the strap and presenting a glazed portionwhich receives the adhesive area of the strap in an intentionallydisengageable union for securing the flap in closed position on saidback wall, the flapsecuring force of said strap comprising tension thateX- tends through the strap downwardly over said back Wall, under thebottom and upwardly over the front wall of the wrapper and that acts atthe distal end portion of the strap in a direction substantiallycoincident with the plane of the union of said strap to said lm portion,the extent of said film portion in a direction normal to said fold-linebeing substantially greater than the corresponding extent of theadhesive area exposed on the end portion of said strap, whereby thestrap is effective in conjunction with said lm portion to secure the apclosed while providing for wide variation in the thickness of thewrapper body.

2. The structure of the next-preceding claim, wherein said strapcomprises adhesive tape extending in double thickness, with the adhesivesides of the united tape portions face to face, from said ap to saidexposed adhesive area at the distal end portion of said strap.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

